Creating composite templates for service instances

ABSTRACT

Embodiments include method, systems and computer program products for creating one or more composite templates. The method includes receiving, by one or more processors, a request to create composite template within a cloud environment. The one or more processors further receive a selection of two or more template members. The one or more processors further determine that any of the selected template members has variables. The one or more processors further resolve the variables of the selected template members. The one or more processors further package the selected template members upon the resolution of variables associated with the selected template members.

BACKGROUND

The present invention relates to cloud computing, and more specifically,to creating and using composite templates for software service instancesin a cloud environment.

In a cloud computing environment, cloud provisioning services are a setof application programming interfaces (APIs), which are implementedthrough industry standard Representational State Transfer (REST)services. These services allow service providers and consumers toperform software provisioning and create instances of desiredapplications or other software. The services are also used to createtemplates that can guide consumers in provisioning applications andservices. Software that is provisioned from a template is known as asoftware services instance.

Cloud orchestration involves the end-to-end automation and coordinationof multiple processes to deliver a desired service to its clients. Theorchestration combines multiple tasks into workflows and ensures theperformance of each of the tasks in a definite order with relation toone another, within a workflow.

SUMMARY

Embodiments of the invention are directed to a method for creating oneor more composite templates. A non-limiting example of thecomputer-implemented method includes receiving, by one or moreprocessors, a request to create a composite template within a cloudenvironment. The one or more processors further receive a selection oftwo or more template members. The one or more processors furtherdetermine that any of the selected template members has variables. Theone or more processors further resolve the variables of the selectedtemplate members. The one or more processors further package theselected template members upon the resolution of variables associatedwith the selected template members.

Embodiments of the invention are directed to a computer program productthat can include a storage medium readable by a processing circuit thatcan store instructions for execution by the processing circuit forperforming a method for creating one or more composite templates. Anon-limiting example of the computer-implemented method includesreceiving a request to create a composite template within a cloudenvironment. The method further includes receiving a selection of two ormore template members. The method further includes determining that anyof the selected template members has variables. The method furtherincludes resolving the variables of the selected template members. Themethod further includes packaging the selected template members upon theresolution of variables associated with the selected template members.

Embodiments of the invention are directed to a system. A non-limitingexample of the system can include one or more processors incommunication with one or more types of memory. The processor can beconfigured to receive a request to create a composite template within acloud environment. The processor can be further configured to receive aselection of two or more template members. The processor can be furtherconfigured to determine that any of the selected template members hasvariables. The processor can be further configured to resolve thevariables of the selected template members. The processor can be furtherconfigured to package the selected template members upon the resolutionof variables associated with the selected template members.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The subject matter which is regarded as the invention is particularlypointed out and distinctly claimed in the claims at the conclusion ofthe specification. The foregoing and other features and advantages ofthe invention are apparent from the following detailed description takenin conjunction with the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 depicts a cloud computing environment according to one or moreembodiments of the present invention;

FIG. 2 depicts abstraction model layers according to one or moreembodiments of the present invention;

FIG. 3 illustrates a block diagram of a computer system for use inpracticing the teachings herein;

FIG. 4 is a flow diagram for creating composite templates according toone or more embodiments of the present invention;

FIG. 5 illustrates a screen page which may be used when creating acomposite template according to one or more embodiments of the presentinvention;

FIG. 6 illustrates a screen page which may be used when creating acomposite template according to one or more embodiments of the presentinvention;

FIG. 7 illustrates a screen page which may be used when creating acomposite template according to one or more embodiments of the presentinvention;

FIG. 8 illustrates a screen page which may be used when creating acomposite template according to one or more embodiments of the presentinvention;

FIG. 9 is a flow diagram illustrating a method for executing compositetemplates to provision/orchestrate composite software service instancesaccording to one or more embodiments of the present invention;

FIG. 10 illustrates a screen page which may be used to execute acomposite template to provision a composite of software serviceinstances according to one or more embodiments of the present invention;

FIG. 11 illustrates a screen page which may be used to execute acomposite template to provision a composite of software serviceinstances according to one or more embodiments of the present invention;

FIG. 12 illustrates a screen page which may be used to execute acomposite template to provision a composite of software serviceinstances according to one or more embodiments of the present invention;

FIG. 13 is a flow diagram illustrating a method for performing one ormore actions on a composite of software service instances of a compositetemplate according to one or more embodiments of the present invention;

FIG. 14 is a flow diagram illustrating a method for performing an actionon one or more members of a composite of software service instances of acomposite template according to one or more embodiments of the presentinvention;

FIG. 15 illustrates a screen page which may be used to perform one ormore actions on a composite template or one or more composite templatemembers of a composite template according to one or more embodiments ofthe present invention;

FIG. 16 illustrates a screen page which may be used to perform one ormore actions on a composite template or one or more composite templatemembers of a composite template according to one or more embodiments ofthe present invention;

FIG. 17 illustrates a screen page which may be used to perform one ormore actions on a composite template or one or more composite templatemembers of a composite template according to one or more embodiments ofthe present invention;

FIG. 18 illustrates a screen page which may be used to perform one ormore actions on one or more members of a composite of software serviceinstances of a composite template according to one or more embodimentsof the present invention; and

FIG. 19 illustrates a screen page which may be used to perform one ormore actions on one or more members of a composite of software serviceinstances of a composite template according to one or more embodimentsof the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Various embodiments of the invention are described herein with referenceto the related drawings. Alternative embodiments of the invention can bedevised without departing from the scope of this invention. Variousconnections and positional relationships (e.g., over, below, adjacent,etc.) are set forth between elements in the following description and inthe drawings. These connections and/or positional relationships, unlessspecified otherwise, can be direct or indirect, and the presentinvention is not intended to be limiting in this respect. Accordingly, acoupling of entities can refer to either a direct or an indirectcoupling, and a positional relationship between entities can be a director indirect positional relationship. Moreover, the various tasks andprocess steps described herein can be incorporated into a morecomprehensive procedure or process having additional steps orfunctionality not described in detail herein.

The following definitions and abbreviations are to be used for theinterpretation of the claims and the specification. As used herein, theterms “comprises,” “comprising,” “includes,” “including,” “has,”“having,” “contains” or “containing,” or any other variation thereof,are intended to cover a non-exclusive inclusion. For example, acomposition, a mixture, process, method, article, or apparatus thatcomprises a list of elements is not necessarily limited to only thoseelements but can include other elements not expressly listed or inherentto such composition, mixture, process, method, article, or apparatus.

Additionally, the term “exemplary” is used herein to mean “serving as anexample, instance or illustration.” Any embodiment or design describedherein as “exemplary” is not necessarily to be construed as preferred oradvantageous over other embodiments or designs. The terms “at least one”and “one or more” may be understood to include any integer numbergreater than or equal to one, i.e. one, two, three, four, etc. The terms“a plurality” may be understood to include any integer number greaterthan or equal to two, i.e. two, three, four, five, etc. The term“connection” may include both an indirect “connection” and a direct“connection.”

The terms “about,” “substantially,” “approximately,” and variationsthereof, are intended to include the degree of error associated withmeasurement of the particular quantity based upon the equipmentavailable at the time of filing the application. For example, “about”can include a range of ±8% or 5%, or 2% of a given value.

For the sake of brevity, conventional techniques related to making andusing aspects of the invention may or may not be described in detailherein. In particular, various aspects of computing systems and specificcomputer programs to implement the various technical features describedherein are well known. Accordingly, in the interest of brevity, manyconventional implementation details are only mentioned briefly herein orare omitted entirely without providing the well-known system and/orprocess details.

It is to be understood that although this disclosure includes a detaileddescription on cloud computing, implementation of the teachings recitedherein are not limited to a cloud computing environment. Rather,embodiments of the present invention are capable of being implemented inconjunction with any other type of computing environment now known orlater developed.

Cloud computing is a model of service delivery for enabling convenient,on-demand network access to a shared pool of configurable computingresources (e.g., networks, network bandwidth, servers, processing,memory, storage, applications, virtual machines, and services) that canbe rapidly provisioned and released with minimal management effort orinteraction with a provider of the service. This cloud model may includeat least five characteristics, at least three service models, and atleast four deployment models.

Characteristics are as follows:

On-demand self-service: a cloud consumer can unilaterally provisioncomputing capabilities, such as server time and network storage, asneeded automatically without requiring human interaction with theservice's provider.

Broad network access: capabilities are available over a network andaccessed through standard mechanisms that promote use by heterogeneousthin or thick client platforms (e.g., mobile phones, laptops, and PDAs).

Resource pooling: the provider's computing resources are pooled to servemultiple consumers using a multi-tenant model, with different physicaland virtual resources dynamically assigned and reassigned according todemand. There is a sense of location independence in that the consumergenerally has no control or knowledge over the exact location of theprovided resources but may be able to specify location at a higher levelof abstraction (e.g., country, state, or datacenter).

Rapid elasticity: capabilities can be rapidly and elasticallyprovisioned, in some cases automatically, to quickly scale out andrapidly released to quickly scale in. To the consumer, the capabilitiesavailable for provisioning often appear to be unlimited and can bepurchased in any quantity at any time.

Measured service: cloud systems automatically control and optimizeresource use by leveraging a metering capability at some level ofabstraction appropriate to the type of service (e.g., storage,processing, bandwidth, and active user accounts). Resource usage can bemonitored, controlled, and reported, providing transparency for both theprovider and consumer of the utilized service.

Software as a Service (SaaS): a software distribution model in which athird-party provider hosts applications and makes them available tocustomers over the Internet. SaaS removes the need for organizations toinstall and run applications on their own computers or in their own datacenters. This eliminates the expense of hardware acquisition,provisioning, and maintenance, as well as software licensing,installation and support.

Platform as a Service (PaaS): a cloud computing model that deliversapplications over the Internet. In a PaaS model, a cloud providerdelivers hardware and software tools, for example, tools needed forapplication development, to users as a service. A PaaS provider can hostthe hardware and software on the PaaS provider's infrastructure. As aresult, PaaS frees users from having to install in-house hardware andsoftware to develop or run a new application.

Database as a Service (DBaaS): a cloud-based approach to the storage andmanagement of structured data that delivers database functionalitysimilar to what is found in relational database management systems(RDBMSes) such as, for example, SQL Server, MySQL, and Oracle. DBaaSprovides a flexible, scalable, on-demand platform oriented towardself-service and database management, particularly in terms ofprovisioning a business' own environment. DBaaS systems may includemonitoring engines to track performance and usage, error monitoring, anddata analysis engines.

Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS): the capability provided to theconsumer is to provision processing, storage, networks, and otherfundamental computing resources where the consumer is able to deploy andrun arbitrary software, which can include operating systems andapplications. The consumer does not manage or control the underlyingcloud infrastructure but has control over operating systems, storage,deployed applications, and possibly limited control of select networkingcomponents (e.g., host firewalls).

When IaaS is used by a consumer, the consumer of the infrastructurebecomes a tenant of the infrastructure. If multiple consumers exist forthe infrastructure, a multi-tenant model exists. Multi-tenantimplementations of SaaS, PaaS and DBaaS exist as well.

Orchestration is an automated coordination and management of computerresources and services, for example, in an IaaS, SaaS, PaaS or DBaaS.The orchestration provisions workloads operating within consumerspecific environments; deploys consumer-specific software, middleware,tooling agents or antivirus programs; hardens workloads; integrates withdirectory services, and so on. An orchestration workflow (orchestration)can define a logical flow of activities or tasks from a start event toan end event to accomplish a specific service. There are many activitiesor tasks at the consumer's disposal to accomplish a specific service.

Deployment Models are as follows:

Private cloud: the cloud infrastructure is operated solely for anorganization. It may be managed by the organization or a third party andmay exist on-premises or off-premises.

Community cloud: the cloud infrastructure is shared by severalorganizations and supports a specific community that has shared concerns(e.g., mission, security requirements, policy, and complianceconsiderations). It may be managed by the organizations or a third partyand may exist on-premises or off-premises.

Public cloud: the cloud infrastructure is made available to the generalpublic or a large industry group and is owned by an organization sellingcloud services.

Hybrid cloud: the cloud infrastructure is a composition of two or moreclouds (private, community, or public) that remain unique entities butare bound together by standardized or proprietary technology thatenables data and application portability (e.g., cloud bursting forload-balancing between clouds).

A cloud computing environment is service oriented with a focus onstatelessness, low coupling, modularity, and semantic interoperability.At the heart of cloud computing is an infrastructure that includes anetwork of interconnected nodes.

Building complex cloud computing environments using multiple servicescan be difficult and time consuming because consumers need to manuallyensure that the multiple services operate in a sequence intended andhave appropriate dependencies in order to complete one or more taskswithin an orchestration. Moreover, when manually managing the multipleservices, consumers can introduce errors by providing incorrect orincomplete input values or data to one or more of the services operatingtogether when attempting to coordinate the operation of the multipleservices. The introduction of errors can result in the consumer havingto reenter the input value or data correctly upon the detection of anerror. In addition, errors like improperly removing services from thecloud computing environment can result in the services lingering withinthe cloud computing environment that are no longer needed leading tounintentional resource consumption (unnecessary processor and/or memoryusage).

In a cloud provisioning environment, a standard softwareservice/template contains a definition and processing steps needed inorder to provision an instance of a software service/template. However,the standard service/template has no indication of relationships withother standard software service templates unless manually ensuring thatthe standard software service templates operate together in a desiredorder and/or with a desired dependency. Accordingly, there is a need fora composite template that contains a combination of standard templatesand a definition of the connections amongst (amongst recited herein canmean between or amongst) the software service instances where softwareinstances have a relationship with other software instances.

Also, there is a need to provision a composite of software instanceswhere some software instances have a relationship with other softwareinstances. Today this relationship is established manually which slowsdown the availability of services within complex cloud environments.

Also, once a composite of software instances have been provisionedaccording to an orchestration, there is a need for additional actions tobe performed on all instances of the composite software using a singlerequest. These actions can be predefined by a service provider with adynamic schema that provides flexibility and portability.

Turning now to an overview of aspects of the present invention, one ormore embodiments of the invention provide methods, systems, andstructures that lay out a framework for a composite of softwareservices/templates (templates). A definition of the connections amongstsoftware service instances can be created from the software templateswhen an instance of the composite template is created. Included in theconnections can be ordering sequences and property variable input-outputdependencies. When the software service instances for the composite arecreated the values of the property variable connections are dynamicallyretrieved and passed appropriately to other software service instancesin the composite as needed.

Turning now to an overview of aspects of the present invention, one ormore embodiments of the invention provide methods, systems, andstructures that lay out a framework for an orchestration of potentiallycomplex functions to be performed in order to provision a composite ofprovisioned software instances via a single request. Property variableinput-output dependencies can be resolved dynamically during theprovisioning of the composite template member instances which facilitatedynamic connectivity across various template member instances of thecomposite template.

Turning now to an overview of aspects of the present invention, one ormore embodiments of the invention provide methods, systems andstructures that lay out a framework for an orchestration of potentiallycomplex actions to be performed on a composite of provisioned softwareinstances and an ability to execute one or more actions on each instanceusing a single request. Processing can be done on each instance for thesame action based on a definition associated with the action in theinstance.

Referring now to FIG. 1, illustrative cloud computing environment 50 isdepicted. As shown, cloud computing environment 50 comprises one or morecloud computing nodes 10 with which local computing devices used bycloud consumers, such as, for example, personal digital assistant (PDA)or cellular telephone 54A, desktop computer 54B, laptop computer 54C,and/or automobile computer system 54N may communicate. Nodes 10 maycommunicate with one another. They may be grouped (not shown) physicallyor virtually, in one or more networks, such as Private, Community,Public, or Hybrid clouds as described hereinabove, or a combinationthereof. This allows cloud computing environment 50 to offerinfrastructure, platforms and/or software as services for which a cloudconsumer does not need to maintain resources on a local computingdevice. It is understood that the types of computing devices 54A-N shownin FIG. 1 are intended to be illustrative only and that computing nodes10 and cloud computing environment 50 can communicate with any type ofcomputerized device over any type of network and/or network addressableconnection (e.g., using a web browser).

Referring now to FIG. 2, a set of functional abstraction layers providedby cloud computing environment 50 (FIG. 1) is shown. It should beunderstood in advance that the components, layers, and functions shownin FIG. 2 are intended to be illustrative only and embodiments of theinvention are not limited thereto. As depicted, the following layers andcorresponding functions are provided:

Hardware and software layer 60 includes hardware and softwarecomponents. Examples of hardware components include: mainframes 61; RISC(Reduced Instruction Set Computer) architecture based servers 62;servers 63; blade servers 64; storage devices 65; and networks andnetworking components 66. In some embodiments, software componentsinclude network application server software 67 and database software 68.

Virtualization layer 70 provides an abstraction layer from which thefollowing examples of virtual entities may be provided: virtual servers71; virtual storage 72; virtual networks 73, including virtual privatenetworks; virtual applications and operating systems 74; and virtualclients 75.

In one example, management layer 80 may provide the functions describedbelow. Resource provisioning 81 provides dynamic procurement ofcomputing resources and other resources that are utilized to performtasks within the cloud computing environment. Metering and Pricing 82provide cost tracking as resources are utilized within the cloudcomputing environment, and billing or invoicing for consumption of theseresources. In one example, these resources may comprise applicationsoftware licenses. Security provides identity verification for cloudconsumers and tasks, as well as protection for data and other resources.User portal 83 provides access to the cloud computing environment forconsumers and system administrators. Service level management 84provides cloud computing resource allocation and management such thatrequired service levels are met. Service Level Agreement (SLA) planningand fulfillment 85 provides pre-arrangement for, and procurement of,cloud computing resources for which a future requirement is anticipatedin accordance with an SLA.

Workloads layer 90 provides examples of functionality for which thecloud computing environment may be utilized. Examples of workloads andfunctions which may be provided from this layer include mapping andnavigation 91; software development and lifecycle management 92; virtualclassroom education delivery 93; data analytics processing 94;transaction processing 95; and action analytics and notifications 96.

Referring to FIG. 3, there is shown an embodiment of a processing system100 for implementing the teachings herein. In this embodiment, thesystem 100 has one or more central processing units (processors) 101 a,101 b, 101 c, etc. (collectively or generically referred to asprocessor(s) 101). In one or more embodiments, each processor 101 mayinclude a reduced instruction set computer (RISC) microprocessor.Processors 101 are coupled to system memory 114 and various othercomponents via a system bus 113. Read only memory (ROM) 102 is coupledto the system bus 113 and may include a basic input/output system(BIOS), which controls certain basic functions of system 100.

FIG. 3 further depicts an input/output (I/O) adapter 107 and a networkadapter 106 coupled to the system bus 113. I/O adapter 107 may be asmall computer system interface (SCSI) adapter that communicates with ahard disk 103 and/or tape storage drive 105 or any other similarcomponent. I/O adapter 107, hard disk 103, and tape storage device 105are collectively referred to herein as mass storage 104. Operatingsystem 120 for execution on the processing system 100 may be stored inmass storage 104. A network adapter 106 interconnects bus 113 with anoutside network 116 enabling data processing system 100 to communicatewith other such systems. A screen (e.g., a display monitor) 115 isconnected to system bus 113 by display adaptor 112, which may include agraphics adapter to improve the performance of graphics intensiveapplications and a video controller. In one embodiment, adapters 107,106, and 112 may be connected to one or more I/O busses that areconnected to system bus 113 via an intermediate bus bridge (not shown).Suitable I/O buses for connecting peripheral devices such as hard diskcontrollers, network adapters, and graphics adapters typically includecommon protocols, such as the Peripheral Component Interconnect (PCI).Additional input/output devices are shown as connected to system bus 113via user interface adapter 108 and display adapter 112. A keyboard 109,mouse 110, and speaker 111 all interconnected to bus 113 via userinterface adapter 108, which may include, for example, a Super I/O chipintegrating multiple device adapters into a single integrated circuit.

In exemplary embodiments, the processing system 100 includes a graphicsprocessing unit 130. Graphics processing unit 130 is a specializedelectronic circuit designed to manipulate and alter memory to acceleratethe creation of images in a frame buffer intended for output to adisplay. In general, graphics processing unit 130 is very efficient atmanipulating computer graphics and image processing and has a highlyparallel structure that makes it more effective than general-purposeCPUs for algorithms where processing of large blocks of data is done inparallel.

Thus, as configured in FIG. 3, the system 100 includes processingcapability in the form of processors 101, storage capability includingsystem memory 114 and mass storage 104, input means such as keyboard 109and mouse 110, and output capability including speaker 111 and display115. In one embodiment, a portion of system memory 114 and mass storage104 collectively store an operating system coordinate the functions ofthe various components shown in FIG. 3.

FIG. 4 is a flow diagram 400 illustrating a method for creatingcomposite templates according to one or more embodiments. At block 405,a request to create one or more composite templates is initiated withina cloud computing environment. At block 410, at least two of a pluralityof templates members (ex., standard templates) are selected to bepackaged together to form one or more composite templates. At block 415,for each template selected (i.e., new template), a determination is madeto determine whether the new template has variables defined within thenew template.

If the new template does not have variables, the method 400 ends atblock 420 by completing the one or more composite templates by packagingthe selected templates. If the new template has variables, the method400 proceeds to block 425 where a determination is made to decidewhether any variables in the new template can be resolved using valuesassociated with any of the previously selected templates. If thevariables of the new template can be resolved using values associatedwith any of the previously of the selected templates, the method 400proceeds to block 430 where run-time variables for the new template areassociated with at least one variable from the selected templates. Ifthe variables of the new template cannot be resolved using valuesassociated with any of the previously selected templates, the method 400proceeds back to block 415.

FIGS. 5-8 illustrate a plurality of screen pages which may be used whencreating a composite template according to one or more embodiments. InFIG. 5, a consumer can view a listing of templates (ex., publishedstandard templates) available for selection to create one or morecomposite templates. Each template can contain definitions andprocessing steps needed to provision one or more services. In FIG. 6,after selecting two or more templates from the listing, a provider canuse a composite tab to package the selected templates.

In FIG. 7, property variable input-output dependencies for the selectedtemplates can be established using connector variables. The propertyvariable input-output dependencies can be used to form compositeconnections between the selected templates. The composite connectionscan include a sequence number associated with each template. When theselected templates are dependent upon one another and/or should beexecuted in a particular sequence/order, the sequence number associatedwith each selected templated can be used to ensure that a properdependency and/or sequence occurs upon the execution of the selectedtemplates. Accordingly, ordering for software service instance creationcan be identified using a sequence number mechanism associated with aconnection definition. However, if order dependency is not needed, thenthe composite software service instances can be created in parallel.FIG. 8 illustrates the composite template after the selected templateshave been published including any dependencies and/or sequencing.

Accordingly, a provider can package multiple templates having correctdependencies and/or sequencing into a composite template. The providercan then publish the template allowing a consumer to use a singlerequest (click) to execute the composite template. The compositetemplate can, therefore, execute a plurality of consumer selectedtemplates automatically with desired dependencies and/or sequencingthereby increasing execution efficiencies by reducing time to executemultiple templates and errors potential introduced through manualtemplate coordination of the multiple templates using one or morescripts.

FIG. 9 is a flow diagram 900 illustrating a method for executingcomposite templates to provision/orchestrate composite software serviceinstances according to one or more embodiments. At block 905, a runcomposite template function is requested to initiate provisioning of oneor more composite software service instances. At block 910, one or moresoftware instances are created to represent a composite template. Atblock 915, for each template in the composite template, a decision ismade to determine whether dependencies exist amongst templates withinthe composite template. If dependencies do not exist amongst templates,the method 900 proceeds to block 920, where each template within thecomposite template can be provisioned and executed in parallel.Accordingly, provisioning for each software service instance can beaccomplished using definitions associated with each individual template.

If dependencies do exist between or amongst templates, the method 900proceeds to block 925, where an order for provisioning each template ofthe composite template is determined. The order can be related todependencies and/or sequencing between the templates. At block 930, eachtemplate within the composite template can be executed according to thedetermined order. Accordingly, provisioning for each software serviceinstance can be accomplished using definitions associated with eachtemplate of the composite template in a determined order. In addition,variables related to input-output dependencies associated with eachtemplate can be resolved dynamically while provisioning occurs.

FIGS. 10-12 illustrate a plurality of screen pages which may be used toexecute a composite template to provision a composite of softwareservice instances according to one or more embodiments. In FIG. 10, arun action can be selected to create a composite of template memberinstances in order to provision the template member instances. FIG. 11illustrates the provisioning of composite template member instances.FIG. 12 illustrates a resolution of variable input-output dependenciesduring the provisioning of composite template member instances.Provisioning of composite template member instances where nodependencies exist amongst the composite template member instances canbe executed in parallel. Provisioning of composite template memberinstances where one or more dependencies exist amongst the compositemember instances can be executed in an associated order based on adefinition within a connection that describes the dependency. Propertyvariable input-output dependencies can be resolved dynamically duringthe provisioning of the composite template member instances whichfacilitate dynamic connectivity across various member instances of thecomposite template.

A composite template can be created where template members of thecomposite template are template members created and published inconsideration of dependencies and/or sequencing amongst the templatemembers. A connection can be created in the composite templatedescribing each dependency amongst template members (i.e., whichtemplate outputs are connected to inputs of other templates).Accordingly, provisioning a composite of interconnected softwareinstances using a single command (RUN) by a consumer can be employed.

By provisioning a composite of interconnected software instances using asingle command (RUN), operating a complex cloud development environmentwith multiple services can occur in a more efficient manner becauseestablishing the connections amongst software instances manually istedious and time consuming. Moreover, manual entry of variables neededfor services to operate together can lead to errors being introduced bythe consumer when provisioning and/or deprovisioning or other actionsare performed improperly, leading to unnecessary resource consumption(processing and/or storage).

FIG. 13 is a flow diagram 1300 illustrating a method for performing oneor more actions on a composite of software service instances of acomposite template according to one or more embodiments. At block 1305,one or more actions, for example, a deprovision action on one or moreprovisioned instances of a composite template are requested.Accordingly, the one or more actions would be performed on all of theprovisioned instances of the composite template at block 1310. At block1315, for each template member in the composite template, a decision ismade to determine whether the one or more actions to be performed on alltemplate members of the composite template have successfully occurred.If the one or more actions to be performed on all template members aresuccessful, the method 1300 proceeds to block 1320, where an actionstate for the one or more actions is set to “complete”. If the one ormore actions to be performed on all template members are not successful,the method 1300 proceeds to block 1325, where the action state for theone or more actions is set to “failed”. The method 1300 proceeds fromblock 1320 to block 1330 where the requested one or more actions areretried. For example, a retry deprovision action for all compositetemplate member instances designated as deprovision failed can beretried with each failed composite template member instance beingperformed in parallel thereby increasing efficiency in deprovisioningthe failed composite template member instances. Also, each compositemember instance can have other actions unique to its standard templatedefinition that can be done on itself that is not ran on other instanceswithin the composite.

FIG. 14 is a flow diagram 1400 illustrating a method for performing oneor more actions on one or more composite template members of a compositetemplate having software instances according to one or more embodiments.At block 1405, one or more actions (ex., a start action) to be performedon one or more instances for one or more composite template member arerequested. At block 1410, for the one or more composite template memberinstances in which the start action is to be performed, a decision ismade to determine whether the start action has executed successfully. Ifthe start action succeeded, the method 1400 proceeds to block 1415,where the state for the member instance is set to “started”. If thestart action failed, the method 1400 proceeds to block 1420, where thestate for the member instance is set to “failed”. The method 1400proceeds from block 1420 to block 1425 where the requested actionassociated with the one or more composite template member instances areretried.

FIGS. 15-20 illustrate a plurality of screen pages which may be used toperform one or more actions on a composite template, one or morecomposite template members of a composite template, or one or moreinstances of a composite template according to one or more embodiments.FIG. 15 illustrates a composite template having two composite templatemembers that are coordinated according to a provisioning sequencenumber. FIGS. 16 and 17 illustrate actions that can be performed onprovisioned instances associated with the two composite templatemembers. For example, actions for the two composite template members canbe workflow actions, instruction actions, deprovision actions, or thelike. In FIG. 18, an action can be selected from the actions in FIGS. 16and 17 which can be associated with the two composite template members.Accordingly, a deprovisioning action of composite template memberinstances can be selected and performed on the designated compositetemplate members, here composite template member 1 and compositetemplate member 2. FIG. 19 illustrates confirmation that the selecteddeprovision action for the designated composite template members hascompleted successfully. The confirmation that all desired compositetemplate members have been deprovisioned illustrated in FIG. 19 isuseful in preventing errors and unnecessary processing resourceconsumption by composite template members that are no longer needed buthave inadvertently left in a cloud provisioning environment.

Accordingly, actions can be performed on a composite template of membertemplate (provisioned software) instances in which an ability to executean action can occur for each instance via a single request. The executedaction is subsequently performed according to an underlyingorchestration for each composite template member instance. The specificprocessing defined in each template member can be executed using thesame action associated with each composite template member instance.

The present invention may be a system, a method, and/or a computerprogram product. The computer program product may include a computerreadable storage medium (or media) having computer readable programinstructions thereon for causing a processor to carry out aspects of thepresent invention.

The computer readable storage medium can be a tangible device that canretain and store instructions for use by an instruction executiondevice. The computer readable storage medium may be, for example, but isnot limited to, an electronic storage device, a magnetic storage device,an optical storage device, an electromagnetic storage device, asemiconductor storage device, or any suitable combination of theforegoing. A non-exhaustive list of more specific examples of thecomputer readable storage medium includes the following: a portablecomputer diskette, a hard disk, a random access memory (RAM), aread-only memory (ROM), an erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROMor Flash memory), a static random access memory (SRAM), a portablecompact disc read-only memory (CD-ROM), a digital versatile disk (DVD),a memory stick, a floppy disk, a mechanically encoded device such aspunch-cards or raised structures in a groove having instructionsrecorded thereon, and any suitable combination of the foregoing. Acomputer readable storage medium, as used herein, is not to be construedas being transitory signals per se, such as radio waves or other freelypropagating electromagnetic waves, electromagnetic waves propagatingthrough a waveguide or other transmission media (e.g., light pulsespassing through a fiber-optic cable), or electrical signals transmittedthrough a wire.

Computer readable program instructions described herein can bedownloaded to respective computing/processing devices from a computerreadable storage medium or to an external computer or external storagedevice via a network, for example, the Internet, a local area network, awide area network and/or a wireless network. The network may comprisecopper transmission cables, optical transmission fibers, wirelesstransmission, routers, firewalls, switches, gateway computers and/oredge servers. A network adapter card or network interface in eachcomputing/processing device receives computer readable programinstructions from the network and forwards the computer readable programinstructions for storage in a computer readable storage medium withinthe respective computing/processing device.

Computer readable program instructions for carrying out operations ofthe present invention may be assembler instructions,instruction-set-architecture (ISA) instructions, machine instructions,machine dependent instructions, microcode, firmware instructions,state-setting-data, or either source code or object code written in anycombination of one or more programming languages, including an objectoriented programming language such as Smalltalk, C++ or the like, andconventional procedural programming languages, such as the “C”programming language or similar programming languages. The computerreadable program instructions may execute entirely on the user'scomputer, partly on the user's computer, as a stand-alone softwarepackage, partly on the user's computer and partly on a remote computeror entirely on the remote computer or server. In the latter scenario,the remote computer may be connected to the user's computer through anytype of network, including a local area network (LAN) or a wide areanetwork (WAN), or the connection may be made to an external computer(for example, through the Internet using an Internet Service Provider).In some embodiments, electronic circuitry including, for example,programmable logic circuitry, field-programmable gate arrays (FPGA), orprogrammable logic arrays (PLA) may execute the computer readableprogram instructions by utilizing state information of the computerreadable program instructions to personalize the electronic circuitry,in order to perform aspects of the present invention.

Aspects of the present invention are described herein with reference toflowchart illustrations and/or block diagrams of methods, apparatus(systems), and computer program products according to embodiments of theinvention. It will be understood that each block of the flowchartillustrations and/or block diagrams, and combinations of blocks in theflowchart illustrations and/or block diagrams, can be implemented bycomputer readable program instructions.

These computer readable program instructions may be provided to aprocessor of a general purpose computer, special purpose computer, orother programmable data processing apparatus to produce a machine, suchthat the instructions, which execute via the processor of the computeror other programmable data processing apparatus, create means forimplementing the functions/acts specified in the flowchart and/or blockdiagram block or blocks. These computer readable program instructionsmay also be stored in a computer readable storage medium that can directa computer, a programmable data processing apparatus, and/or otherdevices to function in a particular manner, such that the computerreadable storage medium having instructions stored therein comprises anarticle of manufacture including instructions which implement aspects ofthe function/act specified in the flowchart and/or block diagram blockor blocks.

The computer readable program instructions may also be loaded onto acomputer, other programmable data processing apparatus, or other deviceto cause a series of operational steps to be performed on the computer,other programmable apparatus or other device to produce a computerimplemented process, such that the instructions which execute on thecomputer, other programmable apparatus, or other device implement thefunctions/acts specified in the flowchart and/or block diagram block orblocks.

The flowchart and block diagrams in the Figures illustrate thearchitecture, functionality, and operation of possible implementationsof systems, methods, and computer program products according to variousembodiments of the present invention. In this regard, each block in theflowchart or block diagrams may represent a module, segment, or portionof instructions, which comprises one or more executable instructions forimplementing the specified logical function(s). In some alternativeimplementations, the functions noted in the block may occur out of theorder noted in the figures. For example, two blocks shown in successionmay, in fact, be executed substantially concurrently, or the blocks maysometimes be executed in the reverse order, depending upon thefunctionality involved. It will also be noted that each block of theblock diagrams and/or flowchart illustration, and combinations of blocksin the block diagrams and/or flowchart illustration, can be implementedby special purpose hardware-based systems that perform the specifiedfunctions or acts or carry out combinations of special purpose hardwareand computer instructions.

What is claimed is:
 1. A computer-implemented method for creating one ormore composite templates, the method comprising: receiving, by one ormore processors, a request to create a composite template within a cloudenvironment; receiving, by the one or more processors, a selection oftwo or more template members for inclusion in the composite template;determining, by the one or more processors, that one or more of theselected template members have variables; identifying, by the one ormore computer processor, one or more variables of a first templatemember of the selected template members; resolving, by the one or moreprocessors, the variables of the selected template members for inclusionin the composite template by, for each variable of the one or morevariables of the first template member: determining that the variablecan be resolved by a second variable belonging to a second templatemember of the selected template members for inclusion in the compositetemplate, wherein the second template member differs from the firsttemplate member; and assigning to the variable a value of the secondvariable of the second template member; packaging, by the one or moreprocessors, the selected template members upon resolution of variablesassociated with the selected template members; and executing theselected template members.
 2. The computer-implemented method of claim1, further comprising using a definition of connections between softwareservice instances created from the selected template members thatspecify relationships between or amongst selected template members. 3.The computer-implemented method of claim 2, wherein the definitionincludes dependencies between or amongst the selected template members.4. The computer-implemented method of claim 2, wherein the definitionincludes a sequence in which the selected template members are executed.5. The computer-implemented method of claim 2, wherein the definition ofconnections is used when an instance of the composite template iscreated.
 6. The computer-implemented method of claim 2, wherein theexecuting the selected template members comprises executing the selectedtemplate members in parallel in response to a determination that norelationship exists between or amongst selected template members.
 7. Thecomputer-implemented method of claim 2, wherein the selected templatemembers are automatically executed based on the specified relationshipsbetween or amongst selected template members.
 8. A system for creatingone or more composite templates, comprising: one or more processors; andat least one memory, the memory including instructions that, uponexecution by at least one of the one or more processors, cause thesystem to perform a method for creating one or more composite templates,the method comprising: receiving a request to create a compositetemplate within a cloud environment; receiving a selection of two ormore template members for inclusion in the composite template;determining that one or more of the selected template members havevariables; identifying, by the one or more computer processor, one ormore variables of a first template member of the selected templatemembers; resolving the variables of the selected template members forinclusion in the composite template by, for each variable of the one ormore variables of the first template member: determining that thevariable can be resolved by a second variable belonging to a secondtemplate member of the selected template members for inclusion in thecomposite template, wherein the second template member differs from thefirst template member; and assigning to the variable a value of thesecond variable of the second template member; packaging the selectedtemplate members upon the resolution of variables associated with theselected template members; and executing the selected template members.9. The system of claim 8, further comprising using a definition ofconnections between the software service instances created from theselected template members that specify relationships between or amongstselected template members.
 10. The system of claim 9, wherein thedefinition includes dependencies between or amongst the selectedtemplate members.
 11. The system of claim 9, wherein the definitionincludes a sequence in which the selected template members are executed.12. The system of claim 9, wherein the selected template members areautomatically executed based on the specified relationships between oramongst selected template members.
 13. The system of claim 9, whereinthe executing the selected template members comprises executing theselected template members in parallel in response to a determinationthat no relationship exists between or amongst selected templatemembers.
 14. A computer program product for creating one or morecomposite templates, the computer program product comprising: a computerreadable storage medium having stored thereon first program instructionsexecutable by a processor to cause the processor to: receive a requestto create a composite template within a cloud environment; receive aselection of two or more template members for inclusion in the compositetemplate; determine that one or more of the selected template membershave variables; identifying, by the one or more computer processor, oneor more variables of a first template member of the selected templatemembers; resolve the variables of the selected template members forinclusion in the composite template by, for each variable of the one ormore variables of the first template member: determining that thevariable can be resolved by a second variable belonging to a secondtemplate member of the selected template members for inclusion in thecomposite template, wherein the second template member differs from thefirst template member; and assigning to the variable a value of thesecond variable of the second template member; package the selectedtemplate members upon the resolution of variables associated with theselected template members; and executing the selected template members.15. The computer program product of claim 14, further comprising using adefinition of connections between the software service instances createdfrom the selected template members that specify relationships between oramongst selected template members.
 16. The computer program product ofclaim 15, wherein the definition includes dependencies between oramongst the selected template members.
 17. The computer program productof claim 15, wherein the definition includes a sequence in which theselected template members are executed.
 18. The computer program productof claim 15, wherein the executing the selected template memberscomprises executing the selected template members in parallel inresponse to a determination that no relationship exists between oramongst selected template members.
 19. The computer program product ofclaim 15, wherein the definition of connections is used when an instanceof the composite template is created.
 20. The computer program productof claim 15, wherein the selected template members are automaticallyexecuted based on the specified relationships between or amongstselected template members.